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HRS §171-18

Public land trust

This section says money the State gets from selling, leasing, or otherwise disposing of public lands must be used according to state law. Money from certain former federal lands must be held in a public trust for specific purposes, like schools, native Hawaiians, farming, home ownership, public improvements, and public land use.

state agencies

The statute, as written — Public land trust

All funds derived from the sale or lease or other disposition of public lands shall be appropriated by the laws of the State; provided that all proceeds and income from the sale, lease, or other disposition of lands ceded to the United States by the Republic of Hawaii under the joint resolution of annexation, approved July 7, 1898 (30 Stat. 750), or acquired in exchange for lands so ceded, and returned to the State of Hawaii by virtue of section 5(b) of the Act of March 18, 1959 (73 Stat. 6), and all proceeds and income from the sale, lease or other disposition of lands retained by the United States under sections 5(c) and 5(d) of the Act and later conveyed to the State under section 5(e) shall be held as a public trust for the support of the public schools and other public educational institutions, for the betterment of the conditions of native Hawaiians as defined in the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, 1920, as amended, for the development of farm and home ownership on as widespread a basis as possible, for the making of public improvements, and for the provision of lands for public use.
Read the official text at capitol.hawaii.gov ↗as published Jan 6, 2026our copy taken Aug 20, 2026

LawTrove is not legal advice. The summary above is a computer-generated restatement — the authoritative text is the official version linked above.